Legislature in recess with judicial vacancies still higher than court officials want

In this photo illustration a close up shot of judge banging the gavel for silence at court (Getty Images)

With the Legislature in recess for potentially months, the number of judicial vacancies statewide is at 40 — 10 higher than court officials say the judiciary needs to function properly.

And though Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) suggested the state Senate could return to Trenton in August to confirm more judges, a similar promise by senators the last two summers led to few votes on judicial appointments.

Scutari said last week that he believes New Jersey’s longstanding judiciary vacancy crisis — which has led Chief Justice Stuart Rabner to halt some types of trials altogether in parts of the state — is over.

“We have achieved an amount that is no longer in a state of emergency, and I think that is in large part due to the work of this committee,” Scutari said during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which approves judicial nominations before they get a vote in the full Senate.

But the vacancy number remains high. The Senate last week approved six new Superior Court judges as budget negotiations reached a close and two more judges retired since then, bringing the vacancy number to 40. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner has said the judiciary can operate sustainably with a maximum of 30 empty seats on the bench.

Judicial vacancies peaked in May 2022 with 71 statewide.

Judiciary officials testified during budget hearings that they need to fill more seats to alleviate the backlog of trials that have mounted. The state currently has more than 69,000 cases backlogged.

Court officials mark a case as backlogged if it has not been heard within a certain time period, and the length of the time varies based on the type of case.

Cape May, Cumberland, Hunterdon, Morris, Salem, Sussex, and Warren are the only counties with no judicial vacancies. Union has the highest number of vacancies, at six.

Scutari said a potential August Senate session may also consider the nomination of former New Jersey Attorney General John Hoffman to the state Supreme Court.

This would be the third summer in a row that a top senator suggested there would be a summer session to deal with judicial vacancies. In 2022, senators returned in August and advanced four judges. In 2023 , the summer came and went without any action on judges.

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